Winter Ball 2016

It's Spring Break here, and I'm catching my breath! Going back into the classroom has limited my time to blog. But moving away from the school and needing to ride in at 7:25AM each morning (returning after 6PM) has seriously limited my blog time! But I miss it, and I'm going to try to catch up this week!

CC traveled to the USA for his annual meetings. He flew in the  night before Winter Ball. He had to see his Singapore girls off to the event. And actually, we were chaperones. Chaperones aren't supposed to show off dance moves, but he did.

Here are my beautiful girls. I buy them a new dress each year. Here's how I swing that. We choose it in the summer and order off Amazon. The dresses are not pricey...they run $20-30. It's a gamble that it will fit right (especially MADE IN CHINA...think smaller than the size says!) But we have inexpensive seamstresses in Turkey. So we bring them back and get alterations  made here if needed. For Firstborn's dress, we found one at a thrift shop in Nashville. But once we got it back here and added the strap (dress code requirement), it just didn't work. Little sis to the rescue. She had purchased a second hand dress from a graduating senior a few years ago. It worked perfectly! They bless me with their willingness to make things work on a budget.

Here they are!

And this is a favorite of mine!

The dance is just wonderful. Good, clean music. Respectful guys. Dances with everyone.

 
And if no guy asks, there's always a sister around!

We took our job of chaperoning very seriously.

And I had to include this sweet picture of Twinkle's friend. She is a Turk born in America. She wore her grandmother's dress from the 1950's. Made by her grandmother. So sweet, and she was so proud to wear it.

My Little Biker

Someone borrowed my camera and took these wonderful photographs of my little accomplished biker. I love them.

I think I've discovered the photographers.

Basketball Tournament 2016

The girls worked hard to prepare for their basketball tournament. Monday-Wednesday-Friday...drills, scrimages, practices. The big weekend finally came. They had a Friday morning game and I got to go! I made it back just in time for my classes. They played 6 games in 2 days and took 3rd place in the tournament.

It was so fun to get to see Miss Middler on the court as a guard.

Firstborn was high scorer for the team. She is pretty much never phased. She swishes a shot and just keeps right on playing. Not even a grin. She's serious.

Twinkle has come into the point guard slot, as our senior point guard is graduating. The coaches wanted her to work on developing herself as the ball handler. She did great. Her only regret is that she doesn't have quite as many chances to steal it from the other team, she says!

I was so proud of them. Just before they announced the All-Tournament team, Twinkle ran to me after particularly good game and said, "Please don't let the refs and coaches vote for me. I don't want to get All-Tournament instead of my sister." What could I say? My heart was so touched. I mentioned it to her athletic director, who assured me not to worry. Her sister had already gotten it.

Here is the group of girls from the various teams that made up the All-Tournament team. We were proud of Firstborn for working so hard (from the 7th grader who begged not to go into a game), proud of Twinkle for playing so hard but not wanting to steal her sister's glory, and proud of Miss Middler for committing to practice until a spot opened up for her.

Firstborn will miss this friend. They've played together since 7th grade.

We love our coach. She's the best!

Cozied Up

We are loving our little mint green house. It was an adjustment for Phaselis the Great (our cat). He is, in fact, still adjusting. His personality has come alive since the move. He begs to go out into the yard and has gotten himself chased up under a house by the neighbor's dogs and up into a tree at another neighbor's dog. He has also begun BEGGING for people food and trying to get into the fridge. He continues to howl if his beloved Miss Middler isn't awake yet (or heaven forbid, has spent the night at a friend's house). But we all agree he's more fun now. He runs to this front window each day to watch us leave. We wonder what he's doing while we are gone.

Soon after moving in, we got a beloved snow day! We got a couple of feet in a very short time. I spent my day snuggled up under blankets.

The girls decided to go out and use my camera to take some pictures. This is something the three of them really enjoy doing together.

We have a little spot in the neighborhood that reminds them of Narnia.

I think it got a little silly at the end.

Meanwhile, this happy guy created a snow arch.

Miss Middler's #14

On January 18, our sweet middle girl turned 14! We invited a group of friends to celebrate on a Sunday afternoon.

They brought her sweet gifts.

She has some very special gals in her life!

And a brother!

We took them to an afternoon matinee that some of our students were a part of.

My middle daughter is a sweetheart. I couldn't ask for a more thoughtful-of-others daughter! Happy 14th to her!